On this very day eight years ago (March 13) Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield boxed one of the most controversial heavyweight title bouts in boxing history.

Almost everyone in attendance in Madison Square Garden, New York that night thought Lennox had done enough to win at the end of the 12 rounds. Everyone that, is except two of the three scoring judges. Stanley Christodoulou’s card was okay, giving Lewis the nod by a score of 116-113. But he was overruled by the cards of Britain’s Larry O’Connell, who had the fight all even at 115-115 and the downright crazy scoring of the now infamous Eugenia Williams, who somehow scored the bout as a Holyfield win by a 115-113 margin. Immediately after the result was announced the finger pointing and accusations began.

There is no doubt the decision was a bad one. In fact it was deemed so terribly controversial that the fight was subject to a Congressional inquiry. No less a figure than the mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, said he was shocked and embarrassed at the verdict - particularly as it had come in the city over which he presided. As usual, however, most of the fingers were pointed in Don King’s direction. After all he had hired Williams. Of course he denied any wrong doing and, whether we liked it or not, nothing was ever proven. The verdict, like any other bad one in the sometimes chequered past of professional boxing, stuck. A rematch would be fought though.

After the huge outcry fight number one invoked a return bout was an absolute must. The predictions made by many experts leading up to it, however, were not proven to be correct. Angelo Dundee, the legendary trainer and corner-man, summed up many peoples’ thoughts when he stated how he felt an ultra quick destruction of the ageing Holyfield would be what we would see this time around. The beating he had appeared to have taken from Lennox in the first fight only served to convince many how correct Dundee’s assertions were. But things didn’t go the way Angelo said they would.

Another distance fight ensued and Lewis prevailed by a close, but unanimous, verdict. Retribution was the Englander’s. As too was the undisputed heavyweight championship. The rematch had been close, however. Much closer than the first fight in fact. Due to the furore the meeting in March had caused though, anything other than a Lewis win at the end of 12 close rounds would have been seen as a disgrace. The right man won this time, without too much doubt. But Evander Holyfield just might have been the one having his hand raised in November had the controversial first fight not taken place. The Sun’s Colin Hart, for example, scored the return fight as a close win for “The Real Deal.”

Whatever, Lennox Lewis was now justifiably recognized as the best big man on the planet. Nothing could ever have removed the embarrassment or outrage of the March meeting’s questionable officiating, but Lennox Lewis had at last seen his destiny fulfilled.

'You know why Deontay Wilder sucks? Let me break it down for his bumboys, fanboys and internet fans that like sucking him off. AJ loses. He was so over the moon, so happy. Dude they was offering you more than $100m to fight him! You made 4-5m to fight Ortiz bruv! Are you stupid? Are you fucking stupid?!' - Dillian Whyte

'Eddie Hearn has almost single-handedly helped raise the profile of boxing in the U.S.' - Kevin Iole

1956- Ron Barton (21-1) stopped veteran Albert Finch (67-17-7) in the 8th round to win the vacant BBBofC British light heavyweight title.
On the undercard, future two-time World heavyweight title challenger Brian London (12-0) stopped Jose Peyre (7-3) of Belgium in the first round and Yolande Pompey (31-2-3), who would challenge for the World light heavyweight title in his next bout, stopped Moses Ward (22-14-2) of Detroit, Michigan in the 7th round.

1961- Floyd Patterson KO 6 Ingemar Johansson, Miami. Retains World Heavyweight Title. After 3-fights and a total of 14-rounds and 2-title changes, these two knocked each other down 13-times.

1873- Joe Walcott (born in Demerara, British Guyana)
Also known as Barbados Joe Walcott to distinguish him from the American known by the same name, was born in Demerara, British Guyana on March 13, 1873, and died October 1, 1935. Nicknamed "The Barbados Demon" Walcott, stood 5'1½ tall, was a formidable fighter who fought from 1890 to 1911. 'Barbados' Joe Walcott was the idol of the later 'Jersey' Joe Walcott, who chose his to use his idol's real name as his own ring name in his honour.
Walcott spent part of his youth in Barbados. As a youngster, he set out to see the world, and got a job as a cabin boy on a ship sailing to Boston. He soon settled in Boston as a piano mover, porter and other odd jobs. Later, he landed a job in a gym, and became popular with other boxers as a human punching bag before turning professional.
Walcott first challenged for the lightweight crown on October 29, 1897, but was TKO'ed by the champion George "Kid" Lavigne in the 12th round. He was also unsuccessful in his first attempt to win the world welterweight title when he was outpointed by Mysterious Billy Smith on December 6, 1898. Walcott won the title on December 15, 1901 from James "Rube" Ferns via a 5 round TKO.
On April 4, 1904 Walcott defended his title against Dixie Kid. He was winning the fight handily when the referee disqualified Walcott for no apparent reason in the 20th round. The match was disregarded as a title bout when it was discovered that the referee had bet on Dixie Kid to win the match.
Walcott also fought the well known Sam Langford to a draw, and met Joe Gans in a non-title fight. The Gans fight occurred on September 30, 1904, and was scored a draw after 20 rounds. After the Gans fight, Walcott accidentally shot himself in the hand during a New Year's celebration, effectively ending his days as a top prizefighter. While he would return to the ring in 1906 (losing his welterweight crown to William "Honey" Mellody in the process), Walcott never regained his old form, losing most of his subsequent fights.
Walcott squandered a fortune earned in the ring and eventually found employment as a custodian at the old Madison Square Garden.
Nat Fleischer rated him as the greatest welterweight of all time, and in 2003 he was included in the Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

1976- Jan Zaveck (born Dejan Zavec in Ptuj, Slovenia, Yugoslavia)
Slovenian professional boxer who since December 2009 holds the IBF Welterweight Champion title. He's boxing under the name of Jan Zaveck. His professional record includes 33 fights: 31 wins (18 knockouts), 1 loss and 1 no-contest. Zavec is the only Slovenian boxer ever to hold a world boxing champion title. In December 2010, he was proclaimed Slovenian Sportsman of the Year.
Dejan Zavec was born in Ptuj, Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia. He spent his youth in Gabrnik in the Slovenske gorice hills and in Ptuj. Later he was resided in Gabrnik and in the city of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
On December 11, 2009 Zavec won the IBF welterweight title against South African Isaac Hlatshwayo.[2][3] On April 9, 2010, Zavec defended the IBF Welterweight Title for the first time against Rodolfo Martinez in Ljubljana, performing at the Tivoli Hall. He won by technical knockout in the twelfth round when the referee stopped the fight.[4] On September 4, 2010, Zavec defended the IBF Welterweight Title the second time against Rafał Jackiewicz, performing at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana. This was the 30th victory in his career.[5][6] On February 18, 2011, Zavec defended the IBF Welterweight Title for the third time against Paul Delgado, performing again at the Arena Stožice in Ljubljana, in front of 12.000 spectators. He won with a technical knock out in the fifth round when the referee stopped the fight.

On the undercard, future two-time World heavyweight title challenger Brian London (12-0) stopped Jose Peyre (7-3) of Belgium in the first round and Yolande Pompey (31-2-3), who would challenge for the World light heavyweight title in his next bout, stopped Moses Ward (22-14-2) of Detroit, Michigan in the 7th round.